WICHITA, KS - The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference has a new logo. Tabor College senior graphics design major Dallas Pruitt of McPherson, Kansas, submitted the winning entry in a multi-stage contest entered by many students attending a KCAC institution this past spring, according to Commissioner Scott Crawford.

The new logo will be used on all official KCAC documents, immediately replacing the previous logo which had been in use for many decades.  Additionally, the current KCAC website will be updated this summer with the new logo and its corresponding colors.  The anticipated launch date for the new website is August 1 - tentatively.

Dr. Crawford in announcing the logo winner stated: "Dallas' logo is highly symbolic of the mission the KCAC serves within our state, the Midwest, and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Our defining purpose is to provide the opportunity to blend, at a minimum, a high quality intercollegiate athletic experience and a great academic experience for the young men and women who choose to attend one of the ten liberal arts colleges within this conference."

"Dallas' logo will serve as a proud public symbol which our students, our athletes, our fans, and our alumni will associate with the excellence which we expect of ourselves within this great conference. Not only is the logo striking in color, but it also is very impressive as a black and white mark as well," Dr. Crawford said.

The ten member-institutions of the KCAC, all in Kansas, are: Bethany College, Lindsborg; Bethel College, North Newton; Friends University, Wichita; Kansas Wesleyan University, Salina; McPherson College, McPherson; Ottawa University, Ottawa; Southwestern College, Winfield; Sterling College, Sterling; Tabor College, Hillsboro; and University of Saint Mary, Leavenworth.  

Dallas Pruitt said ten stars in the new KCAC logo represent the ten current institutional members of the Kansas Conference. He wrote that the torch has two significant meanings, first as a symbol of the Flame of Knowledge to represent academics found in the KCAC, and secondly to represent athleticism in the KCAC and symbolically the universal torch that has been used since the beginning of athletic competition.

"I wanted my design to include representations for academic, athletic, and spiritual aspects of the ten member institutions," Pruitt said. He said the overall light is a spiritual light.

Pruitt plays soccer for the Tabor College Bluejays, and he has been a team captain. He will serve on the college's Student Activities Board. After graduation next year Pruitt is seeking to find a position in graphics design.

While in college he attends a church in Hillsboro. In high school he was active in Countryside Covenant Church of McPherson, where he was a member of the Youth Group. He continues to return there at least once a month to play drums.

Dallas Pruitt is a son of Tom and Joni Pruitt of McPherson.

Commissioner Crawford said 41 total entries were received in the student-driven logo contest, representing seven different KCAC institutions. A preliminary vote by the KCAC Governing Council reduced the entries to six semifinalists.

The semifinalists were: Nicholas Gauna, Friends University; Daniel Hill, Kansas Wesleyan University; Nate Jones, Southwestern College; Matt Parmalee, University of Saint Mary; Dallas Pruitt, Tabor College; and Zac Remboldt, Tabor College.

A second vote among presidents, athletic directors, faculty athletic representatives, and sports information directors in the conference reduced the semifinal pool down to three finalists: Daniel Hill, Nate Jones, and Dallas Pruitt.

The third vote produced the winning entrant, Dallas Pruitt of Tabor College.